WASHINGTON, September 30, 2026 — UPDATED — Five days after Chinese leader Xi Jinping concluded his Washington visit, Hong Kong authorities arrested Boom News founder and journalist Tang Ho-wing and activist Lee Ying-chi in an expanding sedition investigation connected to August 31 remembrance activity. Police said six other people had previously been arrested in the same investigation, bringing the reported total to eight.
The Free China Movement (FCM) calls on the United States, democratic governments, international institutions, journalists and civil society to speak publicly and apply sustained, lawful pressure on the PRC and Hong Kong authorities over repression of peaceful expression, independent journalism and historical inquiry.
Update: eight arrests and growing press-freedom concern
Associated Press reports that police had previously arrested six people for the same alleged offense and that Tang and Lee were arrested September 30. The Hong Kong Journalists Association said Tang’s detention was the first publicly known arrest of a journalist for alleged sedition under Hong Kong’s 2024 Safeguarding National Security Ordinance and asked police to clarify whether his arrest was directly linked to his journalistic duties.
The Committee to Protect Journalists called for Tang’s release and said, “Reporting is not sedition.” Reporters Without Borders also called for his immediate release and described the arrest as a further threat to independent journalism in Hong Kong. These are the organizations’ stated assessments; Hong Kong authorities maintain that national-security laws are necessary for stability and that press freedom remains protected subject to law.
Warnings came before the summit
On September 14, the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) called on President Donald Trump to raise freedom-of-religion-or-belief prisoners with Xi. USCIRF followed on September 18 by urging that the U.S.-China summit directly address China’s religious-freedom repression. The Free China Movement separately called before the summit for political prisoners and human rights to be placed prominently on the agenda.
On September 30, President Trump told reporters that he had discussed the release of political prisoners with Xi during their meeting. FCM therefore does not claim that political-prisoner concerns were absent from the summit. FCM’s concern is that no resulting prisoner releases have yet been publicly announced, while new arrests in Hong Kong have followed.
These appeals differed in institutional mandate and scope, but shared an important premise: human rights should not disappear behind trade, investment and diplomatic ceremony.
Today’s arrests make that warning more urgent
Hong Kong police say Tang and Lee are suspected of seditious acts connected to August 31 activity outside Prince Edward MTR station. Authorities allege that people spread false information and used lies to attack the government and police. Those are allegations by the authorities and should be reported as such. Police had not publicly specified the acts by Tang and Lee that resulted in their arrests when the initial reports were published.
Seeking the truth must not become sedition. Journalism must not become sedition. Remembering history must not become sedition.
FCM does not claim that the Washington visit caused these arrests. FCM’s position is that high-level engagement without visible and sustained consequences for repression risks being interpreted as evidence that repression can continue without materially affecting international relations. A state visit must never become, in practice, a permission slip for repression afterward.
FCM call for sustained international response
FCM calls on democratic governments to raise these arrests publicly; seek disclosure of the factual and legal basis for the charges; defend independent journalism and peaceful historical inquiry; continue pressing for political and religious prisoners; establish measurable human-rights follow-up after high-level meetings with Beijing; and consider lawful, targeted accountability measures where documented violations warrant consequences under applicable law.
The international community has a moral responsibility to speak. Silence also sends a message.
USCIRF spoke before the summit. Free China Movement spoke before the summit. President Trump says political prisoners were discussed with Xi. The question now is what measurable results follow—and whether the international response continues when new arrests occur.
Sources and related material
- Associated Press: Hong Kong arrests
- Committee to Protect Journalists
- Reporters Without Borders
- Reuters: Trump says political prisoners were discussed
- USCIRF, Sept. 14
- USCIRF, Sept. 18
Media contact: Free China Movement — contact@freechina.live